title: Aggressive interactions during free-play at preschool of children with and without developmental coordination disorder.
abstract: This aim of this study was to investigate an unexpected finding from a larger study examining the play of preschool children with and without developmental coordination disorder (DCD). We found that children with DCD were more frequently involved in aggressive incidents during free-play than their peers. Children with (n=32) and without DCD (n=31) were videotaped during free-play at preschool and their play was assessed using the Play Observation Scale. A post hoc analysis was conducted using a specifically developed rating instrument to examine the aggressive incidents captured on video. Videos from 18 children with DCD and 8 typically developing children without DCD were found to contain aggressive incidents. Children with DCD were significantly more often involved as both aggressor (p=.016) and victim (p=.008) than children without DCD (p=.031). This is the first study to identify victimization and aggression as being problematic for children with DCD as young as 4 years of age and needs replication. Given the negative consequences of involvement in aggression and victimization, play-based early intervention focusing on prevention needs to be developed and implemented.
authors.affiliation: Division of Occupational Therapy, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, QLD 4072, Australia. a.kennedybehr@uq.edu.au
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kennedy-Behr
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rodger
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mickan
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D058445:Bullying / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D019957:Motor Skills Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D010379:Peer Group; D010988:Play and Playthings / Q000523:psychology*; D014705:Verbal Behavior
keywords: Aggression; Bullying; Developmental coordination disorder; Play; Preschool; Victimization